Resources

Articles

The new American Dream: developer says people want walkable urban options
Weld for Birmingham, January 2012
In front of an audience of government officials, environmental advocates and built environment professionals, Christopher Leinberger, President of LOCUS, and Geoffrey Anderson, President of Smart Growth America, argued that Birmingham should try to make the days of a bustling downtown come back, in part by embracing commuter rail.

According to Anderson, “Americans want to value the cultural assets they have. They want better access to those assets. They want to be able to walk and bike. They like a sense of community. They want to preserve the things that are special and unique about that place and not become a commodity community that looks just like everywhere else.”

Streetcars could bring $8 billion in development in D.C.
The Washington Post, January 2012
The District’s proposed 37-mile citywide streetcar system could attract up to 7,700 new jobs, raise property values by up to $7 billion and bring in as much as $8 billion in new development over the next decade, according to a study released last week by the D.C. Office of Planning.

‘Hotlanta’ isn’t what it once was
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 2012
In this op-ed, Leinberger outlines the challenges that Atlanta metropolitan region will face if significant investments in transit and walkable urban areas are not made,”The “creative class” wants the option of the drivable suburbs Atlanta is known for, and higher density, walkable urban places served by rail transit. Few walkable urban places exist in the region, a fact that is directly responsible for the poor economic performance, not to mention the continued congestion, of recent years.”

Can gentrification work for everyone?
Salon, December 2011
Reconciling the two edges of that sword — improvement versus displacement — is becoming a more urgent issue with each passing year as cities continue to rapidly transform. Rather than being seen as an injustice, can gentrification correct an injustice by returning prosperity to a long-neglected neighborhood? A good place to start looking for answers to these questions is Washington, D.C.

From Suburban to Urban
Metromode, December 2011
Christopher Leinberger knows of what he speaks when it comes to downtown and suburban development, and redevelopment and strategy. Leinberger says that purely public bodies will only go so far alone — with a few exceptions. What they need, he explains, is to partner with the private sector as investors and experts, allowing them to take on a larger role than the public sector.

Leinberger sees transformation of suburbs
Bloomberg News (audio), November 2011
Christopher B. Leinberger, President of LOCUS, says urban real estate is becoming more valuable than the suburbs. Leinberger talks with Bloomberg’s Ken Prewitt and Tom Keene on Bloomberg Radio’s “Bloomberg Surveillance.”

The Death of the Fringe Suburb
The New York Times, November 2011
“Drive through any number of outer-ring suburbs in America, and you’ll see boarded-up and vacant strip malls, surrounded by vast seas of empty parking spaces. These forlorn monuments to the real estate crash are not going to come back to life, even when the economy recovers. And that’s because the demand for the housing that once supported commercial activity in many exurbs isn’t coming back, either,” says Christopher Leinberger, President of LOCUS.

In an Op-Ed piece for The New York Times, Leinberger highlights the demand for walkable, urban neighborhoods and promotes the reinvestment in America’s cities and inner-ring suburbs as vital to an economic recovery.

The 19 Building Types that Caused the Recession
Atlantic Cities, October 2011
Is there an upside to a recession? According to Chris Leinberger, there is. “A number of things are positive about recessions – and this is for all recessions – and one is that it gives businesses a chance to rethink their strategy, they’re forced to rethink their strategy,” he says, in a recent article in “Atlantic Cities.”

Speaker Series recap: Christopher Leinberger on urbanism and economic development
Model D, October 2011
Leinberger is this month’s featured speaker for Model D. Model D is a web magazine that creates a new narrative for Detroit — telling the stories of development, creative people and businesses, vibrant neighborhoods and cool places to live, eat, shop, work and play. Each month the magazine hosts a monthly speaker series on issues affecting liveability in Detroit.

Can highway spending ever be fair?
The Washington Post, October 2011
“A significant amount of highway funding is no longer provided by highway users,” according to a new report released by the Government Accountability Office. The report shows that all states receive more highway funding than they pay into the gasoline tax, which has many implications on the future of transportation funding in the U.S.

How anchor stores keep neighborhoods afloat
NPR, August 2011
Chris Leinberger: [W]e’re seeing, starting in the mid-’90s but really picked up steam in this past decade, we’re seeing a structural shift in how we build the built environment. The last structural shift was back in the ’50s and ’60s, and this is now another one, as the pendulum begins to move towards creating more walkable urban places. Whether it be in the cities but even more so transforming inner-suburban places.

The Next Real Estate Boom
Washington Monthly, November 2010
Leinberger argues that ending long-standing subsidies that encourage wasteful and costly sprawl will allow the private housing market to adapt to a growing demand for walkable, mixed-use development near transit. In turn, such as shift will allow a recovery in America’s housing industry while creating more sustainable development for the future.

Engine of Prosperity
The American Conservative, August 2010
Real estate has caused two of the last three recessions. That is because real estate and the infrastructure that supports it—transportation, sewer, broadband, etc.—represent 35 percent of the asset base of the economy. When real estate crashes, the economy goes into a tailspin.

Here Comes the Neighborhood
The Atlantic, June 2010
The demand for living in walkable urban areas continues to grow with rising gas prices and disenchantment with congested suburbs. In addition, two-thirds of all households today consist of singles, childless couples, or empty-nesters, and that proportion will rise over the next 20 years. Home builders need to adapt quickly to the changing tides and swear off their exclusivity with the single-family suburban home before it is too late.

Smart Growth
This is Smart Growth 2006 This publication by the Smart Growth Network shows how communities can turn their visions, values, and aspirations into reality, using smart growth techniques to improve the quality of development. This Is Smart Growthdescribes how, when done well, development can help create more economic opportunities, build great places where people want to live and visit, preserve the qualities people love about their communities, and protect environmental resources. The publication features 40 places around the country – cities, suburbs, small towns and rural communities – where good development has improved residents’ quality of life.Click here to download “This is Smart Growth” (PDF)
Economic Arguments
Tax-Increment Financing: The Need for Increased Transparency and Accountability in Local Economic Development Subsidies 2011 This report by the U.S. PIRG outlines, “a number of recommendations for stronger guidelines to ensure TIF becomes more targeted, transparent, accountable, and democratically governed.”Click here to download “Tax-Increment Financing: The Need for Increased Transparency and Accountability in Local Economic Development Subsidies” (PDF)
Economic Development and Smart Growth 2006 This report by the International Economic Development Council, “highlights the connections between smart growth and economic outcomes such as job growth, occupancy rates, tax base, and private investment. Uses detailed case studies to illustrate economic outcomes in places that have incorporated smart growth development strategies.”Click here to download “Economic Development and Smart Growth” (PDF)
Investing in a Better Future: A Review of the Fiscal and Competitive Advantages of Smart Growth Development Patterns 2004 This report by Mark Muro and Robert Puentes of the Brookings Institution, “makes the case that more compact development patterns and investing in projects to improve urban cores could save taxpayers money and improve overall regional economic performance. To that end, it relies on a review of the best academic empirical literature to weigh the extent to which a new way of thinking about growth and development can benefit governments, businesses, and regions during these fiscally stressed times.Click here to download “Investing in a Better Future: A Review of the Fiscal and Competitive Advantages of Smart Growth Development Patterns” (PDF)
Benefits to Developers
Placemaking: Creating the Product 2009 This paper by Victor Dover, “discusses how features that make smart growth neighborhoods smart also make them desirable and command a premium from homebuyers.”Click here to download “Placemaking: Creating the Product” (PDF)
The Market for Smart Growth 2009 This document by Gregg Logan, Stephanie Siejka, and Shyam Kannan presents a, “review of studies of consumer demand for smart growth that finds that about one-third of homebuyers would prefer a smart growth neighborhood.”Click here to download “The Market for Smart Growth” (PDF)
The Market Acceptance of Single-Family Housing Units in Smart Growth Communities 2009 This study by Mark J. Eppli and Charles C. Tu, “finds that people are willing to pay more money for a home in a smart growth project than a similar house in a typical suburban development.”Click here to download “The Market Acceptance of Single-Family Housing Units in Smart Growth Communities” (PDF)
Branding and Marketing Smart Growth Communities 2009 This document by Jackie Benson discusses how to market the safety, convenience, and other benefits of smart growth communities.Click here to download “Branding and Marketing Smart Growth Communities” (PDF)